April 2006

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Is 2006 The Year Of The Chickpea? With Precautions, Growers May Find They Play A Useful Role By Carol Flaherty, Montana State University News Chickpea in bloom.After ascochyta blight hammered chickpeas in 2000 and 2001 and chickpea prices plummeted, some Montana growers may have decided never to give them another try. This winter's record-high chickpea prices may shake their resolve, but disease control is essential if they are to succeed, say crop and disease experts. One kind of chickpea, the kabuli, is generally seen on salad bars. It's golden-brown and about a half-inch in diameter with a dimple. It's little brother is a desi chickpea, smaller and often added to crop rotations for the "pulse" of nitrogen it gives to the soil. Growing either type of chickpea adds nitrogen to the soil and helps break disease and weed cycles common in wheat, says Montana State University's Perry Miller, a cropping systems researcher. While Miller likes those aspects of chickpea production, he's seen ascochyta (pronounced as-ko-kite-a) blight rip through chickpea fields and tear out the profits, as have two plant pathologists with whom he works closely: Jack Riesselman of MSU Extension and Kent McKay of North Dakota Research and Extension Center at Minot. All three are concerned that record-high prices may entice chickpea growers into using any seed they can get, and sub-standard seed puts growers at great risk for loosing the whole crop to ascochyta fungus that can be brought into an area on seed. McKay said in an e-mail that new growing guidelines were developed through research "after the first ascochyta disasters in 2000 and 2001." After that, production in Montana and North Dakota went from 50,000 acres to nearly zero, and Canada, which had led North American production, went from more than a million acres to 100,000. One key to preventing ascochyta blight is seed testing, Riesselman said. Quality seed is lab-tested for ascochyta and for its percent germination, and Riesselman runs the lab at MSU that does that work. Lab testing is essential, since once Ascochyta fungi are introduced into the soil, it can be years before it is safe to try to grow a susceptible crop again in that soil, Riesselman said. On the other hand, the trio agrees that with clean seed and the right management based on the newest information, the risks are reasonable. "There's still a lot to know about chickpea management, but the information is there," says Miller. At the top of the management guidelines is that growers have to be ready to use fungicides to prevent ascochyta blight if the conditions make an outbreak likely. One thing that has changed since 2000 is that guidelines now call for a fungicide to be applied if conditions favor ascochyta, even if a grower does not see the disease in a field. Much of the new management information comes from research by teams led by Miller at MSU and McKay at North Dakota State University. "We now have the knowledge base to see chickpea acres soar into the future," McKay wrote. The research shows that seeding date is not as important as once thought, said Miller. "I thought seeding date was critical, but it's not as crucial as I thought. Seeding early has a measurable benefit, but chickpeas hold their yield better than other crops," he said. In addition, farmers had told the researchers that kabuli chickpeas gave less nitrogen benefit to a succeeding crop of wheat than the smaller desi chickpea. "We didn't see any difference in the benefit to a succeeding crop of spring wheat. They all did a nice positive job," Miller said. And while Miller is attracted to chickpeas and other legumes because of the crop rotation benefits of breaking weed and disease cycles, boom and bust prices and threat of ascochyta blight makes him caution growers to start by learning everything they can about managing the crop before betting the farm on it. The primary area of chickpea production is the "MonDak" region of eastern Montana and Western North Dakota. There will be a meeting about growing chickpeas that will be presented in Williston, N.D. Feb. 22 that would help growers get the latest information. Growers should contact Keith Brown, Divide County, N.D. Extension agent for more information at (701) 965-6501 or kbrown@ndsuext.nodak.edu. Growers also can read on-line publications about chickpea production, including the Extension publications "Growing chickpea in the Northern Great Plains," available at: http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt200204.html or http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/crops/a1236w.htm. See a related article on chickpea management at: http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=3405 and on testing chickpea seed at: http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=3404 Contact: Perry Miller, (406) 994-5431 or pmiller@montana.edu, Kent McKay (701) 857-7682 or kmckay@ndsuext.nodak.edu, Jack Riesselman (406) 994-5149 or jhr@montana.edu Beeftalk: When Should I Turn Out The Bulls? By Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, North Dakota State University Extension Service That is the question of the season, a question that may be the most important question a producer ever asks. Well, maybe not the most important because "will you marry me" may trump the question. The decision when to turn the bulls out certainly is the most controllable event impacting a beef operation. Yes, the seasons of the year are the determining factor, but are not controllable, so those questions that directly interact with Mother Nature impact the beef operations tremendously. Agricultural operations take a very conservative business approach and statistics show there is little change in core management. So why the question? For those who utilize the CHAPS program to evaluate their individual herd performance, the calving distribution table is triggered by the date the third mature cow calves. The calving distribution table prints out the number of cows that calved in 21, one-day periods. The table is quite helpful in monitoring yearly progress or lack of progress in maintaining a targeted calving season within the herd. In reviewing the average dates of the herds processed in-house at the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association since 2000, little change has occurred. The average date the third mature cow calved in 2000 was March 12, in 2001 it was March 10, in 2002 it was March 10, in 2003 it was March 13, in 2004 it was March 13 and in 2005 it was March 13 again. The data reflects that producers, at least those who utilize the CHAPS program, have not made any real change in the date calving starts. Even though individual herds may have changed, the middle of March remains the general time period producers want calving season to start. The question of "when to turn the bulls out" is not going to go away. Complicating the issue is the fact that a producer cannot effectively move to an earlier calving date without major cow turnover. Even though calving time has not changed dramatically, attitudes are changing primarily due to an aging work force and a shortage of labor. Regardless of the reason, when current producers find themselves with off-farm obligations, they are short effective backup help and the absenteeism creates difficulty when the cows are calving. Frankly, the backup labor pool isn't available. A typical conversation between producer and cow would go like this: "Can't you do this yourself?" the producer asks. "Hey, I'm not the one who opened the bull pen," the cow responds. So now is the time to at least ask the yearly question about when to turn the bulls out. The balance is heavily weighted by the typical 2.38 pounds per day that a calf gains while nursing. For every 30 days the bull turnout date is backed off, a potential 70-plus pounds of calf is lost in the fall, unless calf weaning or at least the sale date is adjusted backwards. So, Old Man Winter is waiting at both ends of the equations. The question needs to be answered, "Do you want to deal with the weather while the calves are newborns or later as weaned calves?" The popular answer still remains with newborns and the bulls going out as usual, but the question lingers. As more pondering occurs, maybe something is out there to tip the scales to later calving. Maybe we just need to get a little older. Whatever the answer, a good cow is a remarkable mother, so in the meantime, don't make excuses for poor cows. Sell them. May you find all your NAIS-approved ear tags. Your comments are always welcome at www.BeefTalk.com. For more information, contact the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association, 1133 State Avenue, Dickinson, ND 58601 or go to www.CHAPS2000.com on the Internet. In correspondence about this column, refer to BT0293. OSU's Website On Landscape Plants A Treasure Trove Of Information By Davi Richards, Oregon State University Say you're someone who never turns down the gift of a plant, whether you know what it is or not. But once it's grown for 10 years and is taking up a sizable corner of your garden, you'd really like to find out. It looks like Hypericum, but it's five feet tall, and the one Hypericum you're familiar with is only about a foot tall. Or maybe you've been hearing a lot about the notoriously invasive Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) and you're curious to know what it looks like. Or you'd like a flowering vine and you've put together a list of several from a garden book, but the pictures there don't give you a great idea of just what they look like. Your problem may be solved by using the Oregon State University Department of Horticulture's website called "Landscape Plants: Images, Identification, and Information," developed and maintained by Pat Breen, an OSU professor emeritus of horticulture. The website describes and illustrates hundreds of plants, from Abies through Zelkova, with enough pictures for each plant to leave no doubt about its appearance. And the pictures on a website can be printed more easily and cheaply than copying pictures from a book. The photographs vary from those taken at a distance to show growth form, to close-ups showing details of leaves, flowers, and fruits. For instance, the site lists three species of Hypericum ranging from two to six feet tall and includes a total of 12 pictures of these plants, making it easy to distinguish among them. The site has 11 pictures of Russian olive, including close-ups of the fruit and bark as well as middle-distance pictures of whole trees both in leaf and during winter dormancy. And the eight pictures of trumpet vine, for instance, should be plenty to let you decide whether this is the vine for you. Breen first developed the site in 1999 for a horticulture class. It's still used for classes at OSU, and Breen says he hears from instructors at other universities saying they use it as well. Depending on the season, the site gets 20,000 to 30,000 hits a day. "My initial aim was for the students to use the site to help in plant identification," said Breen. "I'd always walk the class around campus to see actual plants, but having the site to refer to before and after made it more likely that students would remember and be able to identify them. I've added information about landscape features along the way to make it a bit more interesting." Breen's website is a work in progress as there are thousands of landscape plants on the market. And hundreds more are introduced every year. "The site started with about 450 plants and I just keep adding them," he said. Most of the now 900-plus plants described and pictured on the site are woody trees and shrubs, contained in the first three "volumes." The fourth volume covers 75 herbaceous annuals and perennials. In the herbaceous section, the design characteristics of each plant (such as height, spread, form, texture, flower color, leaf color and time of bloom) and notes on growing requirements and characteristics (such as light, soil, and water requirements) are presented side-by-side with a photograph of the plant. So it is easy to scroll through and pick plants that are suitable for your garden and also appeal to your eye. Even if you don't have an immediate problem to solve, you'll enjoy just browsing through the thousands of excellent-quality pictures. For instance, there are seven of Viburnum davidii and 11 of Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape). There are 15 species of Dogwood (Cornus), with 12 photographs of Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) alone. Once you've looked closely at the 11 photographs of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and the 13 photographs of Grand Fir (Abies grandis), you'll never confuse them again. If you happen to live in or near Corvallis, you'll be able to find many of the plants pictured on the website in the area. Breen has helpfully given the location where you can see good specimens firsthand. Scientific names are de-mystified in Breen's section on this subject. Latin was used for scientific publications from the middle ages until the mid-nineteenth century and is still used today for scientific names to avoid confusion from one language to another. Since they're in Latin, the genus and specific epithet (species) are both italicized. The genus is capitalized and the specific epithet isn't (except in a few exceptions). "I always told my students not to worry too much about how to pronounce the Latin name," said Breen. "Just say it so it's reasonable and doesn't cause the class to break up laughing." The site also includes a glossary of technical terms. To visit the site, go to http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants More Than One Way To Fertilize Spring Lawn From University of Idaho's HomeWise Although winter has yet to make a "lamb-like" exit, it's not too early for Idaho homeowners to start thinking about lawn care. Bags of fertilizer, seed and other turf-tending products are replacing holiday-clearance items at the garden center, but should you buy some fertilizer now? Sure, says Tom Salaiz, University of Idaho turfgrass specialist, but you don't have to apply it all at once. Cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass, fescues and perennial ryegrass emerge from their winter sleep hungry, but with a good supply of stored energy reserves. Grasses that are over-fertilized with nitrogen in the spring will spend too much of those energy reserves on leaf growth and won't have enough left over to take them through summer's heat and drought stress. "All we really need to do in spring is to give our turf just enough nitrogen fertilizer to prevent it from becoming chlorotic or yellow," Salaiz says. "That will maximize its production of energy reserves without over-stimulating its shoot growth." A standard ballpark recommendation calls for a half- to three-quarter pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet between late March and mid-April, repeated as needed 30-40 days later. An alternative strategy is to make just one springtime application after the first flush of growth has slowed&emdash;typically between late May and mid-June in Idaho. For homeowners who prefer this approach, Salaiz recommends a slow-release fertilizer to avoid creating another growth flush before summer hits. This late-spring application can take the grass through the summer until late August or early September, when night-time temperatures begin to cool and it's time for another treatment. Fall applications of nitrogen should be slightly heavier than spring ones because cool-season grasses are again growing rapidly and are also storing energy reserves in preparation for the winter ahead. Salaiz recommends three-quarters to a full pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, repeated 30 days later. Avoid fertilizing during peak summer heat unless your grass is yellowing extensively. This yellowing may be due to iron deficiency and calls for a fertilizer that's supplemented with iron.

Grains & Whole Grains In Your Diet From Family Times @ Home, a WSU publication When the low-carb diet trend appeared many cut back on grains, but grains are making a comeback with the new MYPyramid Food Guide. Research has clearly shown that eating a diet rich in whole grains is beneficial and can reduce the risk of heart disease, certain types of cancer and type 2 Diabetes. MyPyramid promotes 3 ounces of whole grain bread, cereal, crackers, rice or pasta every day. Many grain products on the grocery shelf are made from refined grains and some are made of whole grain&emdash;look for the word "whole grain" to be sure. Some grain products contain higher amounts of bran. Bran provides fiber, which is important to overall health. However, products with added bran or bran alone (e.g. oat bran) is not necessarily a whole grain product. The color of a product does not signal whole grain. Bread is often brown because of molasses or caramel coloring. Whole grain cereals may be light in color. Label reading is a must to find products that are whole grain. The Grain Group includes all foods made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, and barley, such as bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortillas, and grits. In general 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of ready to eat cereal, or 1 cup of cooked rice, pasta or cooked cereal can be considered 1 ounce from the grain group. For a 2000 calorie diet you need 6 ounces of grain a day and half of them should be whole grains. So, explore your grocery shelves and find ways to add whole grain to your daily food choices. Also, go to http://mypyramid.gov and have fun learning more. How To Recognize, Treat & Avoid Lilac Bacterial Blight By Carol Savonen, Oregon State University Do new buds and branches on your lilac look blackish, like they've been scorched by a blowtorch? Your bush might have a bacterial plant disease called lilac blight. A cool, wet, rainy, spring season favors development of lilac blight, especially if rains follow a late frost or winter injury. Oregon State University Extension plant pathologists are warning that this might be a favorable year for the disease. Actually known to plant pathologists by the complete name of "lilac bacterial blight," this disease is caused by a bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. Syringae. The same organism is the source of bacterial blight on pear, blueberry, cherry, maple, and many other woody plants and the symptoms of lilac blight are similar in appearance to fire blight in fruit trees. At first, leaves look perfectly healthy and then a short time later they look as though someone has placed an open flame near them. The dark black streaks on one side of young shoots show the progression of the disease. The flowers will wilt and turn brown and unopened flower buds become blackened. Lilac blight is difficult to control and it is recommended that you buy blight-resistant varieties whenever you plant new lilacs. It also helps to space and prune your lilac plants so they are not rubbing against each other and air can circulate freely between the plants. Do not fertilize late in the growing season. Do not over fertilize young plants because high nitrogen favors disease development, explained Melodie Putnam, OSU Extension plant pathologist. If your lilac bush does have infection, prune and burn all infected parts as soon as you notice them. A spray of copper sulfate during the early spring each year should help prevent the problem before the buds begin to break. Lilac blight bacteria over-winter on diseased twigs or on healthy wood. Factors that weaken or injure plants &endash; wounds, frost damage, soil pH, poor or improper nutrition and infection by other pathogens &endash; predispose them to the disease. Sources of this disease can include old cankers, healthy buds, leaf surfaces and nearby weeds and grasses. Wind, rain, insects, tools and infected nursery stock spread the bacteria. Some species of lilacs have shown resistance in western Washington including S. josikaea, S. Komarowii, S. microphylla, S. pekinensis, and S. reflexa. Most cultivars of S. vulgaris are susceptible, but some have been observed with less disease when planted in a garden; those include 'Edith Cavell', 'Glory', 'Ludwig Spaeth', and 'Pink Elizabeth'. Note that 'Ludwig Spaeth' is highly susceptible under intense nursery production systems. The disease starts as brown spots on stems and leaves of young shoots as they develop in early spring. A yellow halo may also be around the spot. Spots become black and grow rapidly, especially during rainy periods. Further infectious development depends on the age of the part of the plant attacked. On young stems, infection spreads around the stem and girdles it so the shoot bends over at the lesion and the parts above it wither and die. Infections on mature wood occur only on cherry trees, not on lilacs. Young, infected leaves blacken rapidly starting near the margin and continuing in a wedge-shaped pattern down to the petiole. Eventually the entire leaf dies. On older leaves, spots enlarge slowly. Sometimes, several spots will run together, and the leaf may crinkle at the edge or along the mid-vein. Flower clusters also may be infected and rapidly blighted and blackened. Buds may fail to open or may turn black and die shortly after opening. Symptoms are similar to those of winter injury. To see photos of this disease, visit OSU Extension's "On-Line Guide to Plant Disease Control" at: http://plant- disease.ippc.orst.edu/disease.cfm?RecordID=688 Gardeners, Warm Up To Cold Frames! From University of Idaho's HomeWise Cold frames are hot! June Swanson, University of Idaho Advanced Master Gardener, says many Idaho gardeners could easily warm up to their innumerable uses. These any-sized, often-homemade structures&emdash;enclosed on all four sides and covered with a clear top&emdash;can let gardeners in most Idaho climates grow salad greens all winter long, start cold-hardy vegetable and flower seeds up to eight weeks before the last spring frost, keep cool-season vegetables growing an extra month or two in the fall and harden off young seedlings that were started indoors. Gardeners can even use them for forcing pots of early-season tulips, daffodils or other bulbs; to root cuttings of geraniums, fuchsias, roses or other plants, and to store carrots, turnips, beets and other veggies over the winter&emdash;a la root cellar. Swanson, who gardens organically, loves to see how far she can stretch her growing season, both early in the spring and late in the fall. "I know it's a lot easier to run to the store and buy a bag of produce, but I just enjoy it," she says. Much of the fun is in experimenting. One winter, when the Swansons wanted to visit the Southwest for a few weeks, June just tossed blankets over her cold frames. To her delight, the vegetables inside kept growing, even though they were completely in the dark. Swanson also enjoys fashioning cold frames from whatever's literally lying around her yard. They can be made from old lumber, old window frames or retired sandboxes covered with storm windows. (Just don't use treated wood or creosote-soaked railroad ties, she cautions: the chemicals can leach into the soil.) Gardeners can even form straw bales or concrete blocks into rectangles and set fiberglass, corrugated plastic or other transparent materials on top. To let rain and melting snow drain off easily, cold frames are ideally built higher in the back than the front. Ventilation is a must: on a clear, sunny day at 40 degrees, the inside temperature can quickly reach 75, Swanson says. "You need a thermometer inside the cold frame and out of direct sun; when it reaches 70 to 72 degrees, prop open the cover." Because ventilation can be tricky&emdash;especially if no one is home during the day to monitor temperature&emdash;many gardeners use automatic venting systems that are available commercially. Swanson fills her cold frames with enriched garden soil&emdash;3 inches of soil; 1 inch of peat moss, rotted straw or leaf mold, and 1 inch of compost or well-rotted manure. After blending the soil, she closes the cover on a hot sunny day to try to cook the soil and fry weed and insect pests. As to the best place to set a cold frame, Swanson says "location, location, location!" Frames need sunny spots for maximum winter sun. Indeed, in just such a spot&emdash;protected from north winds&emdash;Swanson harvests lettuce and spinach all winter long. They grow from seed to people feed in six weeks. "I like to keep a good supply coming," she says. WSU Extension Seeks Live, Adult Cereal Leaf Beetles By Dennis Brown, Washington State University Washington State University Extension is asking farmers for help in finding some live adult cereal leaf beetles. First found in Washington in 1999, the crop pest has been identified in Spokane, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry, Lincoln, Adams, Grant, Kittitas, Franklin, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, Asotin, Whitman, Lewis and Clark counties. Both adults and the larval stages feed on most cereal and grass crops and frequently cause economic damage, according to Diana Roberts, WSU Spokane Co. Extension educator. Roberts is collecting live, adult cereal leaf beetles from farm fields as part of a biocontrol project. "The biocontrols we are using are two species of wasps, which are tiny and harmless to people, pets, livestock and other plants and animals," Roberts said. "They lay their eggs in the larvae or eggs of cereal leaf beetle and prevent further development of the pest. "We need the adult beetles to send to a lab in Colorado where they will lay eggs that the wasp will then parasitize. The parasitized eggs are sent back to us, and we release them in field insectaries around the state. We have field insectaries at Nine Mile Falls, Peone Prairie, Colville, Deep Creek, Warden and Connell. An adult cereal leaf beetle is about a quarter inch long with blue/black, shiny, rectangular abdomens. The legs and prothorax must be red-orange. If not, it is a different, beneficial species. The beetles overwinter as adults and emerge in spring when temperatures reach around 50 degrees for several days. They will be found first in winter wheat, where they seldom cause much damage, and later on spring wheat, barley or oats. To report an infestation, please call Diana Roberts, WSU Spokane County Extension, at (509) 477-2167 or Andy McGuire, WSU Grant County Extension, at (509)-754-2011 ext. 413. WSU personnel will come out to farms to collect the insects. Going Native In The Garden Is Earth-Friendly By Carol Savonen, Oregon State University Landscaping with native plants not only protects our natural heritage&emdash;if used appropriately, these plants reduce fertilizer, pesticide and irrigation needs, thereby reducing costs to you and the environment. More public places are going "native." Schools and parks are incorporating regionally native plants and employing landscaping practices that conserve water and prevent pollution. Many plants native to the Pacific Northwest make beautiful and resilient additions to the home landscape, as well. Native plants are adapted to regional soils and to regional patterns of wet winters and dry summers, so they require less pampering than plants imported from other parts of the world. In addition, native plants, especially shrubs with berries, provide the best food for native birds and wildlife. But this doesn't mean that you can just plant them and walk away, says Linda McMahan, native plant expert and horticulturist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. "Many gardeners make the mistake of thinking that native plants can fend for themselves in the garden," said McMahan. "Establishing native plants requires care. Knowing the plant's native habitat can help find the right garden conditions." Each type of native plant has its own requirements for temperature, moisture, light, soil and terrain. Pay attention to the microenvironments in your home landscape and purchase or propagate and plant natives accordingly. A visit to the library, bookstore and native plant websites can provide a wealth of information on particular requirements of native plants. To landscape a dry, sunny area on the west side of the Cascades, consider the Willamette Valley form of ponderosa pine, bitter cherry, Oregon white oak, California lilac, hairy manzanita, western mock orange, western serviceberry, red-flowering currant, tall Oregon grape, coastal strawberry, Douglas aster, blue-eyed grass, goldenrod, Oregon iris, pearly everlasting, Cascade penstemon, yarrow and California poppy. For dry sunny areas east of the Cascades, McMahan recommends western juniper, yellow currant, quaking aspen, paper birch, western birch, Oregon grape, sagebrush, wild rose, penstemons and western red columbine. West side hedgerows can be beautified with natives including Douglas hawthorn, wild rose or western serviceberry&emdash;all of which also provide food for wildlife. For early blossoms and decorative bark, consider Pacific ninebark, in wetter areas. In shadier spots on the west side, consider natives such as western red cedar, blue elderberry, Indian plum or osoberry, evergreen huckleberry and wild strawberry. Wild ginger is a handsome and adaptable ground cover that stays green all year. Wild ginger's brownish flowers, pollinated by beetles or flies, make fascinating surprises in the spring. They sometimes bloom again in the summer or fall. If you have a moist area, vine maple, creek dogwood, white inside-out flower, small flowered alumroot, sword fern and western bleeding heart do well. Many native plants are available from nurseries. Demand is high enough to keep specialty growers in business propagating native plants. Never dig up native plants from the wild, unless the area is under certain threat of destruction, such as new construction sites or logged areas and you have written permission to collect. And remember, it is illegal to collect plants from state and national parks and in other designated natural areas without a permit. McMahan has loaded up the website of the Yamhill County office of the OSU Extension Service with a wealth of information and great links about gardening with native plants, including native plant lists for woodland and sunny border gardens and a downloadable source list where to get the plants in western Oregon. Go to: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/yamhill/pages/gardening_natives.html McMahan has just published a new OSU Extension Service guide "Gardening with Oregon Native Plants West of the Cascades," (EC 1577). It is available on CD for $10 plus shipping and handling. For more information, call 1-800-561-6719.

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